Archive for January 2nd, 2006

OK, guys… I’m having a busy week or two coming up. The more of you I see, the happier I am… singing or dancing to an empty room is not nearly as fun as a room full of friends!

Here’s the lineup:

Friday, January 6, I’m dancing as Eudora with Yasmina Amal (my teacher, she is fabulous) at New Aladdin’s restaurant in Frandor. Shows are at 6:30 and 8:00, they don’t last a whole half hour so be there when it starts. No cover, but be sure to eat the wonderful food or at least dessert and their special coffee.

Sunday, January 8, (& 15 & 22) my first class of the year! This is the ever-popular “First-Time Toe-Up Socks.” This is perfect for those who have tried other sock types and want something new, but it also is a good sock for a first-time user of double-pointed needles. No gauge swatch, any yarn weight. It’s a three-week class at Threadbear Fiberarts in Lansing. Noon to 3pm for three weeks in a row. $30 includes my pattern with 13 photos to walk you through. I know I’ve got at least one student already, and so I’m committing that the class is a go. Please join us!

Tuesday, January 10 (and 24th and 31st) 5:30-7:30pm First-Time Toe-Up Socks at Little Red Schoolhouse. If weekends don’t work for you, I’m also teaching the First-Time Toe-Up socks on three Tuesday nights (skipping one week to go to knitting guild).

Wednesday, January 11 11am-1:30pm Baby/Lap Blanket (Reading Knitting and Fixing Simple Mistakes), Threadbear Fiberarts. One session, $20 includes pattern. The project is a lovely basketweave blanket which adjusts easily to many yarns.

Thursday, January 12 (& 19, & 26), Reading Simple Patterns at Rae’s Yarn Boutique. Pick a simple pattern and I’ll help you work through the abbreviations and any new techniques it might present for you. Choose a bag, mittens, hat, or other item which can be completed in the three-week class period.

Saturday, January 14, 2pm-5pm, Wristwarmers at Little Red Schoolhouse. This is a perfect class for learning Double Pointed Needles. It’s also just a fun quick knit, if you need a break from a large or complex project. One afternoon, and a great pattern (included in price of class) with many photos. Any warm yarn, any gauge, no gauge swatch.

Saturday, January 14, 6:30-8:30pm, Fabulous Heftones at Altu’s Ethiopian Cuisine, East Lansing, Mich. Brian and I are doing our first public performance in a few months, and we have a lot of new material with our new CD that just came out at the end of October. Romance and novelty songs, retro classics.

I knit a little bit, finally, on the first day of the year. As far as handknitting, all I did was knit a few inches on Sara’s wristwarmers (belated Christmas present, but it’s finished now).

However, I’m happy to say that I finished both sleeves on my machine knit Funnel Neck from Sally Melville’s Color book. I decreased slightly differently than specified in the book but it will look right when worn.

It’s not finished yet, not until it is blocked and sewn. Good thing I like to sew! I have so much work to do this week, though, and I’m already a little guilty for taking a holiday day off (I swear I can be a guilt machine if I don’t watch it). So that will need to wait for a few days until I have time free for myself again.

It was a good day off, actually. Slept without an alarm clock (woke up when I dreamed the phone was ringing downstairs… it was not). Went on a walk with Brian, had a cup o’tea with him as he had breakfast at the neighborhood diner. Made a special breakfast for myself, drank lots of tea, read some blogs, took a nap. Dreamed of knitting, woke up and played some music with Brian. Made Hoppin’ John for dinner, read a few more blogs, finally sat down and finished the first sleeve and made a whole second sleeve for the funnel neck. A pretty fine day, all in all. Very relaxing.

I am excited about the funnel neck. I have only a few turtlenecks that are wool, and I find myself wishing I had more. It’s funny, all three of them (the two in my closet plus this funnelneck) are some variation on turquoise. No problem, it’s my best color, but maybe the next one should be magenta or raspberry or fuschia, or maybe even eggplant. Now that I know I can make it work on the machine, I may try this again. The yarn I did this one in, is a standard worsted weight wool and so no doubt I could use the same notes for another yarn, it will be easy to hit the same gauge again. Maybe next time I’ll use a washable wool.

The pieces are not blocked so it’s just a pile of wool right now. I’ll show pics when something looks recognizable.

Back to knitting my Bloom shawl! I knit on it a little at the dance Saturday night, so it’s nearly done. And I’m about a third done with a sample sock for the no-purl, replaceable-heel sock class I’m teaching at Rae’s later this term.

Who is LynnH?

LynnH is Lynn DT Hershberger of Lansing, Michigan, USA. She considers her artistic medium to be color, whether it
be knitting, printmaking, polymer clay or embellishing with paints. She also creates recipes with allergy-friendly,
gluten-free, and vegan-friendly ingredients.